Meeting Ausrius and crossing Russian border.

The ferry trip was smooth. Went of the ferry in Klaipeda at 9:15 and was welcomed by sunshine and an empty motorway for the first 200 km, followed by smaller and more busy roads.

Klaipeda harbour

First waypoint was Utena where I met Ausrius (husband of my colleague in northern Sweden). He happened to be in Lithuania at the same time with his bike and we decided in advance to meet for the first time and ride together some km through Lithuania and Latvia. We had a great time together (way too short!!!) and parted in Rezekne. See you in Luleå Ausrius!

Border Lithuania – Latvia

I arrived at the border near Zilupe in the evening and managed to get into Russia within 2.5 hours. The crossing is quite bureaucratic: Passport, customs, some sheet of paper, stamp, fill a form, new sheet of paper, stamp, different desk, another desk, stamp, temporary vehicle import – fill 3 forms, get a stamp, another desk, new shift with fresh personnel, etc. Quickly lost overview… ;o)

I made it into Russia quite late and stopped at the first petrol station to buy an insurance for the bike (police can not handle our green insurance card sometimes, 380 SEK for 3 months…). My plan to reach a certain motel 180 km behind the border failed. Drove for a while in the dark and was quite tired. Luckily found a simple B&B near the main road. I hate carpets on the wall – too difficult to walk on them… :o)

Sorry no pictures from the outside – it was quite a rough place…

*Note: “The Transit” stage is mainly about eating miles eastwards. No sightseeing – only by accident… The more “interesting” stuff will follow near the next stage – when I reach Barnaul/Altai.